


Gold Rings

by Ribbonshalos



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Angst, Drowning, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mermaid!Widowmaker, Pirate!Hanzo, Suicidal Tendencies, Suicidal Thoughts, pirate and mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 23:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16732299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ribbonshalos/pseuds/Ribbonshalos
Summary: Hanzo was meant to deliver a mermaid, but the mermaid and his younger brother are gone. Failing to give the mermaid as was intended would mean terrible consequences from the clan. With no other options, Hanzo tries to capture another mermaid.





	Gold Rings

~~~~The storm spared their ship, and it left Hanzo in disappointment. The sea is flat as glass, opposing to his soul. Their delivery is supposed to be made in two weeks. The goods, the mermaid, is gone. And so his brother.

He only wonders if he jumped overboard with the mermaid because the creature wished to kill him, or simply because they were both too love struck to worry about Genji drowning.

Is he alive? Hanzo doesn’t know.

But it doesn’t matter, not now. The Shimada Clan made a promise to deliver a mermaid. Failing to do so would all be placed on Hanzo’s shoulder. The mark of dishonor forever staining his soul.

In panic and uncertainty, he orders the crew to turn back. Head to French ports for resupplies and other needs. The crew grumbles, but does not question the young master. Even though this setback will put them behind schedule for delivering a mermaid, which they didn’t even have, they don’t argue. He will lead them surely to the right path.

Hanzo does not sleep on the short course there. The entire week full of pacing and muttering of half ludicrous ideas of how to save this entire operation for the sake of the name he bears. This was the first delicate operation Father put in his hands and he expected nothing less but success. Now…

If Father finds out…

It would all be over.

In the early gray morning, they pull into the dock. Leaving the crew with orders to restock and take some time to stand on steady land, Hanzo leaves them. Going to the rocky coast side while stringing his mind for anything valuable to save the situation.

The money exchanged for the mermaid with the spray of fins in brown and white with orange decorating her scales was more than the clan has ever received in one business transaction ever before. Their word was sealed and given to bring the mermaid to the American. Hanzo swore he wound honor the deal made by his father. When Genji asked for the responsibility of watching over the goods, hope blossomed in a corner of his mind that he has started to see his duties. Instead, he stumbled upon them embracing. The mermaid of golden hair nearly close enough to drown him upon her whim.

He could not stop him from retrieving her. He could not stop the raging wind and rain. He could not stop the wave that crashed into their boat. And he could not stop his brother, from tumbling into the sea with the mermaid in his arms.

_Have you ever found love?_

The younger heir to the Shimada clan speaks in his mind. Desperation making his voice tremble for just a moment with the sheer truth he thought he spoke of. The wild look of panic at being separated from  _her_ still digging into his skin.

_Of course not, brother._

Through the seaside town, he spoke to natives. Finding very few who spoke English or his own tongue, but finally stumbling upon a fisherman in the local tavern. After much discussion, and a few coins slipped underneath the table, the fisherman directed Hanzo to a cove far down the beach front. Amidst rocks and choppy waves there is rumored to be sirens.

Mermaids are so rare and far in between to form a connection or difference between others. The one they had captured did not sing, though Hanzo heard stories of such. The locals had tales of singing women with beauty tails who drowned men with their lusty desires. Terribly wonderful creatures who could tell you your heart’s wants before letting the ocean fill your lungs.

Finding his chance of redemption, Hanzo travels back to his crew. Gathering them all, he tells of his scheme to capture a mermaid. The cove where the sirens are supposed to lurk by, the beach is rocky, and underwater caverns barely glimmer up through the dark water. It’s rough, and dangerous, but Hanzo knows his crew will perform well.

To capture such a creature, one must lure them in to a place where a net can be swept underneath them. The last mermaid was captured by harming dolphins, causing her to rush forward to give them aid. Without other animal nearby, and a feeling that a siren wouldn’t care for the wellbeing of another creature, Hanzo order the crew to collect shiny trinkets. Placing them between the rocks in the cove, they settled down to wait.

A day passes. The water is still and lifeless. They keep waiting.

Staying up through the night, a splash startles one man to begin shouting, but it was a small fish of no concern. The net still waits in the rocky sand, and the silver spoons and jewelry glisten in the bay.

Taking shifts, the men rotate between day and night watches. Hanzo does not sleep, staying up watching the waves for any sign of a women or large, glistening tail.

A week passes. The men begin mumbling under their breath. Hanzo only parts from the cove to find English speakers that will once again confirm that sirens have been sighted in those waters before. Frustrated, and losing his grip on everything, he returns to watch the net.

The ship is supposed to be pulling into the Americas harbor on this day. Hanzo does not dwell on it, only guards the net more closely. The men whisper, but it does not fall on his ears.

Another day passes, and Hanzo crumbles in exhaustion on his cot for six hours. When he awakes, he’s back to the net. The men have grown restless, and are questioning the price of it all. Hanzo quickly silences them, but does not miss their glares and tenses fists. Losing control of not only his father’s deal but his own crew, Hanzo trades Genji’s sword for a gold ring. Setting it in the water to reflect the most amount of sunlight as possible.

After two weeks have passed in the shores of the unfamiliar land, dark clouds gather as night falls. The rain assaults their skin, and the crew abandons the net. Even as Hanzo orders and even lunges after them, they stop him with a few hits of the hilts of their swords. Not enough to kill, but enough to push the air from his lungs and make his vision swim from the blows. Left alone on the sand and the quickly thrashing tide, his crew leaves him.

Feeling the water touch his bruised cheek, a glimmer of gold flashes in the night. His honor can’t be lost… not without doing more. Hanzo pulls himself to his feet, taking the gold ring and net just to stumble back to the port. There, tied but shaking in the raging water, is small fishing boat. Losing all thoughts of logic and reason, Hanzo pushes the small raft out to the stormy ocean. Desperation, the sudden ache of his lost brother, and his honor helping him paddle to the small cove.

He doesn’t ponder how he will make it through the flashing lightning and rain. The weight of the net helping load down the front end while the golden ring is held tightly in his fist. He battles the towering waves, attempting to tie the golden ring to a small rope to dangle in the water. The water soaking his skin, his hair, slips to his fingers and loosens the precious bait. Fumbling the only hope of finding a mermaid, it falls onto the boat, and is throw out with the next wave slamming against its small side.

Hanzo stills, the eye of the storm. Eyes half closed and his fingers limp as he feels the emptiness in his hands. He has no home to return to. He has no name. To go back with this failure proclaimed to his father would be far worst then letting the ocean take him now.

He cannot bare this shame. He cannot bare this disgrace. The sea can’t see his marked soul, it cares not for title or placement. It will take anyone under its heavy embrace.

A wave rises in the darkness, towering above before tilting the boat. Moving like a puppet controlled by the wind, he falls with it. The water crashing in on every direction.

Maybe he can be with his brother.

_Have you ever found love?_

Closing his eyes, the sea throws him back and forth. His mouth open and taking in the water without struggle. There is nothing left to fight for.

In the all surrounding darkness, no telling of up or down, light flashes. His eyes open, and see a golden shine through the ocean. Fading away, before it suddenly disappears entirely. A thick shape moving from where is once shined, moving right towards him.

Something else shimmers in the dark water. Surreal but approaching. His eye’s attempts to stay open are weak, the burning in his lungs growing by the second.

Purple scales. A women.

Through the ocean, her face appears. Unearthly and diamond sharp. Two rings of gold glisten, surrounding her pupils.

Hands reach out, and take his arms, pressing him close. He twists within her hold for a moment, a weak attempt to push away but claws brush against his skin. A warning, before arms wrap under his shoulders. Pushing through the water, Hanzo’s eyes drift. The salt burns and the darkness is almost too much, but he sees the purple scales again.

A tale, long and slender, framed with fins of gold.

Closing his eyes, Hanzo lets the ocean embrace him.

*

Cold. It’s so cold. It seeps into his bones, making his skin numb to all else.

He shifts, the flat floor of stone sticking to his body. Cursing his warm blood to remain unsteady in his veins. Water clings to his clothes, his hair drapes over his shoulder. With frozen fingers his hair from his eyes, and slides an arm underneath him, propping his body up.

A curved roof of rock hangs overhead, a dome peaking at ten or so feet. The flat floor which he rests on is still chilly, but only make up half of the space. Light refracts from the opening of water, dim and barely there, but coming up from the tunnel that twists up into the open space. A few small holes poke in the ceiling, but very little light is received from it.

The ocean should have taken him. Why is he here?

Two golden rings rise from the surface of the water. Irises holding him still while the waterline hides her nose and cheeks. A dark, midnight blue tail of hair is pulled back from her face. Her eyes as sharp as they are memorizing. The skin on her face a soft, nearly periwinkle shade of blue.

The ocean did not embrace him last night, a siren did.

Still mostly hidden underneath the water, Hanzo breathes out, before sitting up. She does not react, besides her eyes following his body as he crosses his legs. Sweeping back his drying hair, Hanzo takes in the siren.

“You stop me from drowning. Why,” his voice is rough and nearly unable to whisper from the salt water that was burning his throat. His English accented but the only thing that comes close to the Frenches tongue. He doesn’t speak more, waiting for the reason a siren saved a man instead of leaving him to fate.

Her eyes of gold narrow by the slightest margin. The water laps against the edge of the stone shelf as she comes closer to the edge. Hanzo does not move, holding his head high as she rises above the water line.

Water drips from her cheeks and jaw, sharp and shaped like the edges of a diamond. Her lips are full and pale, held together as her shoulders hold droplets of the ocean. Smooth and striking collarbones pressing against her periwinkle skin.

Her hand flings out, causing Hanzo to tighten his fists in anticipation before realizing the item that was thrown.

The gold ring rests only inches from him. Tearing his gaze away from the bait meant to capture someone like her, he looks to the siren.

“Humans struggle.” Her voice slips from the ocean. Alluring and smooth in a French accent. Teeth seemingly human until the light catches a sharp canine. “You didn’t.”

The air stalls in his lungs, her sharp irises holding him against his will. “I didn’t want to, and you shouldn’t have done this.”

Her eyebrows twitch, raising for a moment before her brow tightens.

“Why,” she demands, sharp and quick.

His fists tense, holding back the straining in his chest at the frustrating siren.

“That’s none of your concern.” He breathes out, “Sing your song, siren, and end this.”

Rings ripple in the water as she breathes out. Her lips parting as she holds him in her drowning gaze.

_“Non.”_

Slipping back under the water, the siren disappears. Moving, but only stiffly, Hanzo comes to the edge of the stone shelf, calling after her. He catches the last of a golden tipped tail flicking down into the tunnel. Much too deep for him to hope to swim through, and he leans back. Staring at the dark walls and the small blotches of retracted light while his muscles shiver.

* 

Hours pass, and his clothes still refuse to dry. The light has brighten considerably, but the dimness still holds it, suggesting the storm is still raging outside the cavern walls. Removing his shirt and pants in an attempt to let the air dry the articles of clothing. Hanzo paces in his under garments, only comfortable without other eyes to see him like this.

She returns just as the light begins to fade back. Hanzo is able to at least slip his somewhat dryer pants on before she sights him in his briefs. The small twitch to her lips suggests she finds him amusing as he pulls on his shirt as well. Yet, he catches the way her eyes glance at the tattoo decorating his left arm.

Her eyes stay on his form as she comes to the edge. Placing clams on the rock before taking one and flicking her tail to push away from the stone shelf.

“Eat,” she speaks, breaking the clam open with her sharp fingernails. Her teeth flash, revealing sharp canines before her lips press against the side of the shell. Somehow gracefully eating a dark substance from within the clam.

Inching forward, he comes to the offered food. The dark shells rest together, but it doesn’t invite Hanzo’s appetite. Turning his head away with a huff, he settles down. Pulling back his dark hair to rest in a ponytail.

A soft breath of a word Hanzo doesn’t recognize echoes in the cave. Turning his head, the siren is closer. Her body poised and ready to dart away at a moment’s notice, but coming to the pile of clams. Keeping his muscles as frozen as a statue, her hands reach out for another clam. Her fingers make quick working of breaking it open, the dark mass inside looking slimly and wrong.

“It won’t make you sick. Eat.” Her words firm as she holds it out.

Tilting his chin high, he narrows his brow. “How long are you going to keep me here?”

“When you tell me why you didn’t struggle when you were in the water, I will help you leave here.”

Her answer comes so quick, it nearly startles him. Tightening his jaw for a moment, he breathes out through his nose.

Her gold eyes gleam. Sharp in their warning of her predator skills. If she wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t be here. There’s nothing else left for him to do, besides take the risk she’s taking as well.

Reaching out slowly, his fingers touch the palm of her hand as he retrieves the shell. Her skin cool to the touch with residue of liquid. She slips back to the water, but only keeps her shoulders cover. The sharp gold rings in her eyes watching him finally eat.

It doesn’t taste as terrible as he thought it would. Discarding the clam shell, he doesn’t have time to reach for another one before her quick fingers are breaking opening a second clam shell. Another offering from the siren.

He eats well that night. The food warming his body as she stays by the edge of the rock. He leans against the cavern wall beside the water, stealing glances at the tail blurred by the sea. Quietly, he asks her what he should address her as.

With a smooth brow, and glancing eyes, her lips part.

“Amélie.”

He gives an informal bow, simply tipping his head forward before offering his own name. She says it once, rolling it over in her tongue and causing his body to shiver with it.

The next morning brings a numb cheek against the stone floor and wandering thoughts. The siren is gone, but the empty calm shells are too.

The siren demands to know why he didn’t fight the sea rushing into his mouth. She refuses to let him leave until he gives his answer, but why does it matter to her? Why would a siren care for the reasoning behind a dying man? Is she simply bored or curious?

He will not wait on the whims of a mermaid.

He takes his clothes off, only his undergarment to protect against the chilly walls before he slips into the water. It’s warmer, but just by a few degrees. The tunnel is full of light, but the refractions travel a long way. Expanding his lungs and pushing off the rock shelf, he dives under.

He makes it halfway before the screaming in his lungs become too much. Bursting back through the surface, his gets oxygen. Reflecting on the stormy sea he was gladly letting crush his ribcage versus now. The thought of having to wait, to let it burn him away, makes his mind shudder. There are quicker ways, but he will not sit here while the siren is gone.

Pushing through the water once again, he attempts to reach the curve. And fails.

Again.

And again.

The fourth try, he does not stop when he reaches the halfway mark. Kicking his legs, his body forces itself through the water. The curve of the tunnel brighter and at his fingers tips. Though his body screams for air, and his vision shakes, he reaches the turn.

Only to meet an angry siren.

His lips part at her bared teeth, the pale blue lips pulled back to reveal the sharp fangs nestled deep in her mouth. Her arms wrap around his shoulder, and her tail flashes into view. Deep purple, with small spiky gold fins on either side. The caudal tail slips from the violet shade covering most of her tail to a glimmering gold at the tips.

Like royalty. Like a dream.

Pulling him closer, his vision darkens as her tail beats through the water. Hastily swimming him to the surface. He stills in her grasp, until they break through the water and he pulls in air. Choking on the sudden rush to pull it all in as her arms and tail keep them upright in the water.

“What are you doing,” She hisses, once his breaths turn to only ragged demands on his lungs. “You cannot make that, you will drown.”

Her body is so close, the periwinkle skin pressed against him as he still clings to her shoulders. Her arms wrap underneath his arms, her strong fin flipping through the water to keep him breathing.

“Why does it matter… if I drown or not.” He still needs to settle his lungs, but he can’t figure out the siren’s desires. To kill him, or simply torture him here.

Her fists curl against his back, tense and in warning. He fears for a moment, before she pushes him to the rock ledge, nearly shoving him up there. Turning on his side, his black hair sprays against the stone, water dripping off his body as he stops fighting for one moment. Her sharp, widen gaze stays on him, but her tail keeps cutting through the water with her anger.

“I have drowned men before.” Her sharp voice making his bones shiver. “Their songs are familiar and easy. Lust. Love. Sex. Whatever you may call it. That is what they want, and that is what kills them. It is only after my kiss steals their air do they realize they are twenty feet underneath the surface. They cannot escape me. They never do.”

Her teeth bare for a moment, pride and malice showing off her fangs.

“One song. One kill.”

Hanzo swallows, her voice trembling with the power she has yet to use against him.

“They struggle. They fight and scream bubbles of air. They do not stop until their hearts do. Men are selfish and want to live. Even the worst.” Her voice quick and still alluring him, her anger dying into cold smoldering fury.

“I have never seen a man not struggle, nor want to live.” She breathes, gold rings holding him still. “You do not value your life. Why?”

The mermaid with a tail of gold. His brother, falling for her enchantment. Their interlocked hands. The desperation in his brother’s eyes the night he forced him away from her. The determination in both him and the mermaid as the storm assaulted their ship. The last glance of his mission, of his sworn promise to his father and the honor of his clan, disappearing overboard.

He sits up, pulling the hair away from his face as he shifts away. The golden irises of hers disappear as he goes to his clothing. The ring sitting there among the pants and shirt. He dresses, but does not look to her. The ring is pressed tightly into his palm before he lays down. Far from the stone edge.

Her breath echoes in the cave. Cold and unfeeling as the water shakes with her movements. He doubts that she has left, but he doesn’t turn to see for himself.

*

For two days, he does not move. She calls for him, leaving clam shells open and ready to be eaten but he does not partake. The bite in her voice gets sharper as he refuses to move. On the night of the second day, she finally calls him by name. She has fresh water, in a canteen that’s old and nearly falling apart, but his throat burns at the thought of refusing it. He takes it, drinking it gone. She retrieves more, but he only drinks half this time.

Falling asleep on the rock shelf besides the water, the siren watches him drift off into unconsciousness.

 When he awakes, the tickle of her fine hair touches his skin. Blinking his eyes open, she leans over him, her midnight blue hair falling over her shoulder. Her body resting halfway on the stone, exposing her deep purple tail. She starts away at this, slipping back into the water before he can blink twice. The sea rests on her shoulders, but her golden eyes hold his.

He sits up. The silky touch of her hair almost surreal.

“I will sing, if you will eat.” Her quiet proposal.

“Just to drown me,” He speaks for the first time in several days. His voice rough and gravely, but working.

“Not all songs are of death.”

Her tail flicks, and she comes slowly back to the stone. Draping her arms over the ledge, she looks to the open clam shells, then back to him.

To hear a siren’s song will free one’s soul, or so the locals have told. It reveals the desires of one’s heart. Showing their true form and enlightening their being.

He wants this, in the very least.

Taking the shell, he eats. Swallowing it with difficulty before consuming four more shells. He shifts, straightening up as to be her audience. Her eyes shimmer, before they close away.

Her pale blue lips part. Letting a song of the seashells and sharks and blue liquid flow from her tongue. Pure and untainted by the sloshing of the water or the echoing of the cavern. It pulls at him, begging him to come closer. Her long mane of hair moves with her song, flowing over her shoulder and draping through the water. An enchantress, a goddess. A mermaid.

Her song, and only hers. For him to hear, and to keep in his chest.

With a soft note, her music ends abruptly, and he is only inches away from her face. Having moved without thought towards her. Her teeth flash for a moment, fangs showing but not baring. His eyes widen at his mistake, and pulls away.

It’s silent. Eerie and empty without her song. His lips tremble at the cords it strikes in his shattered chest. Bowing his head to the siren, he opens his mouth.

His confessions flow like a river. Pooling over her periwinkle skin and touching her scales. How he failed to uphold his promise. How he lost his honor for losing the mermaid. How the clan will not accept him if he returns back to them. His brother, determined and too lost in the mermaid’s gaze to see his as he fell into the ocean with her.

“I have nothing.” He whispers.

“ _Chéri_ ,” Her voice comes to him, lifting his gaze to the gold irises. She slips deeper into the water, but he does not hesitate to follow. Letting the ocean taste his skin, her hands take his arms gently. Pulling him underneath the surface and holding him. With her head nearly bowed, and her eyes shining, she looks to him. Her tail flows gently, flashing purple and gold. Gently, his hands hold her arms, interlocked with the siren.

He does not have a chance to burn, before she flicks her tail. Bringing him to the surface with a frozen gaze and gentle pressure from her hands.

“I knew only one other man, who did not struggle.” Her voice trembles. Alluring and deadly but faltering.

The soft pauses of her sounds echo in the cave. Telling of a sailor, who caught her gaze. They played a game, where she tried to drown him, but he kept safely on his boat. His ears stuff with cotton as to not fall to her deadly song. She wanted his blood in the water, but soon found him endearing. The first time he listened to her song, she dragged him in the water.

He was still. Even as water crashed into his mouth, he did not fight her. It made her pause, and he touched her hair. Letting him return to the surface, he pressed his lips to hers. She wanted to taste his lips again.

They dance in the waves, far away from others. His small boat was able to hold him for the long visits out to the ocean. He wanted to see her, every waking chance he could. The siren kept him close, showing her song to him. They kissed, and whispered in the dark shores at midnight.

But humans are not children of the ocean. They are not kin with the sea foam and waves. When it strikes, it cares not who it kills.

His boat couldn’t withstand the storm. It fell apart, and a piece of board struck his chest as the ocean threw them aside. She held onto him, begging him with her song to open his eyes. Even struggling to keep him above water, but his chest still bleed.

His eyes held her until they closed.

She clung to his body, returning him to the land. Staying beside him, resting on the beach with her hands on his face, until his people came searching. Watching them take him away from the sea form as she slipped back into it.

Her fin brushed his leg. The end of her story leaving him silent. Her hands rest lightly on his skin, touching him through the soaked shirt. Slowly raising his hand, he brushes his knuckles against her cheek.  

“When I saw that ring, and your stillness…” Her voice nearly silent above the water. A sigh, filling the space between them. The thought of a lost loved one. “I will take you back to your land.”

“Amélie.”

His chest is empty, and broken. His name meaning nothing but the sound she puts into it. A siren, and a pirate. A son without a home. A killer of men. Together in the water, both drowning in their sins.

Slowly, his fingers trail against her neck. Cupping her periwinkle skin as her eyes shine a thousand treasures he wishes to find. Her tail moves, the fin pressing against his legs as they slip under the water. Their lips finding each other’s in the salt and grief.

The water does not invade his lungs, but her kiss takes him away. Gentle, but holding the edge of danger. One fang tugging his lip before returning to him completely. Pressing closer, the scales of her tail touch his body. Wrapping around him as if to call her own. His hands touch her skin, her scales. Gracing the gold tips with care as she shivers in his arms.

_Have you ever found love?_

Their lips part, bubbles escaping his teeth as her gold irises look to him. Unwinding her tail, and flicking it, they came back to the surface. Hanzo gasping for air as she helps him climb above the shelf of rock. Inhaling and exhaling. Laying down beside the water.

His hair drips in his face. Turning his head, she hovers at the edge. One hand, water falling from her pale blue skin, reaches for him. Trailing his jawline, before brushing back the dark locks of hair. The cool fingertips a lovely memory to his skin.

_Perhaps, brother._

*

He sleeps, and awakes to her in the morning. The glancing of her eyes to his bared open shirt, and the edge of a tattoo. Fighting the red that touches his cheeks, he slips the cloth off. Lying on his side to extend his left arm above the water as to show her the ink upon his skin.

Her hands are curious, and ghostly as they trails the blue and sharp designs. Focused, with a small crease in her brow. His eyes trail over the diamond edge jaw she holds, the smoothness of her cheeks. The full, pale blue lips before meeting the slender curve of her neck and collarbones.

The parting of her lips brings his attention to her teeth. The pointed canines that hide away. Distracted by the white shine, he was too late to notice her attention shifting from his arm.

A gentle breath leaves her lips, before she gestures at him to come closer. Sitting up, he dips his legs into the water.

Her hands press against his thighs before a quick flick of her tail brings her to his eye height. Her strong arms holding her up with ease. Starting at her closeness, Hanzo blinks. Her tail pressing between the space of his legs. The periwinkle skin and gold eyes holding him before flashing her teeth again. This time, the smallest curve to her lips as she invites him to see.

Almost needle like in appearance, her fangs extend farther than the rest of her teeth. Sitting comfortable among the other pearly whites. His fingers tremble ever so slightly as he raises them to her lips, and the flash of gold in her eyes suggesting silent amusement.

Trailing his finger against her bottom lip, his eyes flicker to hers in uncertainty. Her form holds still, scales pressing against his skin. The pressure of her hands against his thighs is carefully balanced.

Being bold, his small finger slips between her lips. She does not start, giving Hanzo more courage. Slipping it down the slick surface of the right fang, her mouth widens for a moment. Making Hanzo still before he touches it again.

Her jaw moves, gently catching his finger between her teeth and easily avoiding a piercing of her fang. A breath slips from his lungs as he looks to her. The gold flash in her eyes predatory, but the tug of her lips amusing.

Letting him go, a shuddered breath leaves her lung in a sort of quiet laugh. Red stains his cheeks, but he catches her gently before pressing his lips to her. Catching the siren off guard.

Her lips dance along his, and they both slip into the water. Her claws carefully hooking through his hair, and bringing him close with a flick of her tail.

*

That night, the siren keeps to her word. Holding him close, they dive through the tunnel. Her tail moving powerfully and quickly through the water as they make the turn. His lungs only burn for a moment before they reach the surface. Looking up, Hanzo finds stars, and two golden rings checking his breath.

The cavern was only a few miles off the cove where sirens were rumored to have been. Hidden along the rock wall lining the coast. She holds him carefully as they make their way to the shore. A small circular cave into the face of stone serving as Hanzo’s platform to get out of the water.

She tells of rough men, his crew, lurking nearby for a few days. Wondering where he went but she hasn’t seen them this day or the last. This makes his brow narrow, but there are more pressing matters at hand.

She hesitates in the blue liquid, looking up to him with a smooth expression but he feels the unease. His own mind has been turning it over, as to what to do now.

_Have you ever found love?_

Looking to the siren, he comes closer to the edge. Wavering her closer where his waiting hand takes hers. Water drops glistening from the ocean touching his palm.

“I will return, if you wish me to.” His offering, her choice.

Because they are not of the same world. A son without a home. A killer of men.

“Do not linger for long,  _mon chéri_ ,” Her answer breathes across his skin. A welcoming home. The promise of finding his heart without wounds.

Kissing her knuckles, he bows his head for a moment.

“I won’t, Amélie.”

Now on a path that his soul can bear, he goes to finish what he begun. A part of his pride expects his crew and ship to still be waiting for their captain, but he is not so hopeful. First going to the docks, the glorious Shimada Clan ship still sits in the bay. Upon inspection, none of the men can be found.

He can at least explain himself to his men. Let them go on as they chose, without him as his captain. It doesn’t matter the questions that will follow, he will stay with the siren. She holds his heart carefully in her cool fingers. He will return for it and her.

On edge at returning to the town, he goes to the tavern. Hearing his men before he even enters through the door. All drunk on rum and hollering crude things. One notices his silence stance, and falls over while shouting his name. The tavern falls quiet as his crew finds their captain alive and well.

Speaking loudly, as if he never disappeared for two weeks, he orders his men back to the ship. When everyone refuses to move, he narrows his brow, ready to repeat himself when one of the men straightens out of his slump.

“You think you can just abandon us and return whenever you feel like it? That this ship is still yours? That we  _all_  won’t pay the price for Genji taking the mermaid and jumping into the sea like a mad man?”

Hanzo pauses, finally sensing the hostility and dark eyes flashing throughout the room.

“We know what happens when you fail the Shimadas. We’re not going back.”

He shouldn’t have returned. They men have already casted him aside. They fear his family name though it is no longer his as it once was. Blood lust shines in their dark eyes, and it calls for him.

Attempting to call his own men down, he tries to explain that he is not returning to the boat. They don’t hear. The drunkards stand up, eyes only focused on him as they start towards him. Someone mockingly shouts that maybe he was capturing a mermaid while he was gone, a pretty one that sang him to sleep. Another asks if he’ll share the mermaid. The others start chanting his name. A demand, a frenzy. A pool of sharks finding a drop of blood in the water.

The first drunkard lunges at him, and Hanzo knocks him down easily. But another attacks him, and another. One by one over whelming him before they drag him through the street. Reaching the dock as Hanzo shouts and orders them but their drunk laughter is louder than his words. His crew stumbles upon the ship, carrying their captain like a prized fish. Thick rope is retrieved, bounding his limbs together before gagging him with a wad of cloth.

Arguing breaks out. Whether to run him through with a knife. Or simply finish the captain with a hanging. They bicker, having no set command until two men carry out an iron ball. Meant for keeping any disobeying men trapped in the cells below the deck. Now, they begin laughing, finding it fitting that he should join his brother in the sea.

Steering the ship out to open waters, they only get far enough from land to see a small gray horizontal. The dark night leaving the water calm and smooth compared to the men aboard the ship.

He struggles on the deck, a boot or fist hitting his skin on occasion as they travel out farther. The death in front of his eyes makes him flinch away, even though it was only a few mornings ago he was ready to embrace it.

Amélie.

She waits for him. His word still pressing to her knuckles about his return. The soft blue lips, saying his name, holding him close though she is not nearby.

The golden ring in his pocket presses into his skin. Bait that was meant to lure her in for capture, but only brought her to saving his life. He should have left it to her. His fingers would have trembled but it would have fit perfectly on her finger.

He closes his eyes to the angry men and the indifferent sea. His thoughts a tossing wave between his brother and the siren. How Genji might have survived the sea due to the mermaid’s love. Whether Amélie will forgive him, or herself for losing his blood and bones to the ocean.

Hands grab him, throwing him on the deck before choosing a side.

Her lips comfort him, holding him in a life of the seaside and foam. Of their fingers tangled through each other’s hair. Of skin and scales pressing close while he finds the treasure in her irises. The times they’ll dance in the water, her cool hands keeping him safe.

A dream. A lost memory that he feels in his bones. An apology.

The men sneer, spitting and cursing while holding him up as their offering to the hungry waves.

A hum arises. Quietly building up, stopping the muscles and movement of his crew. It stills his own lungs. Hanzo slowly turns his face to the forming music.

At the side of the boat, a women dances in the water. The movement of her hair follows the sway of her body. Gold eyes shining in the night as her song soothes all terrible things. Her music promises love, a soft touch. Silver and jewels to decorate their throats and brows. Blood of royalty, and happiness. A thousand ships with the sharpest swords. But of all, her sweet love.

The first man steps towards the siren, tumbling over the side without a sound. A few stir at this, but don’t break away from the mermaid’s enchantment. Hanzo mind is clear, only seeing his Amélie sing a song that is neither his or hers. His body strains against the rope, the shackles holding the iron ball to his leg tight. The men holding his body slowly lower their arms, under the spell.

Another man falls into her song, dropping into the water but shouting on the way down. One by Hanzo’s side attempts to cover his ears, a few others try to slow their movement towards her. Shifting across the deck, his eyes scan for anything of use. The siren’s song fills the air, bringing all crawling towards her. Someone shurgs his shoulder, nearly sending him off the slick deck and into the water.

Her voice stalls in her throat. A pause only a moment long, but enough for a hand to push his body over the edge. The iron ball catches the side for a moment, before dropping with its bearer. Water taking them both.

His lungs are only half full with oxygen, but a sudden pull at his ankle jerks him down. The rope strains against his muscles as he struggles, but he closes his eyes to the darkness. The last thought in his brain will be of her, her voice. Keeping his heart beating when the wanted it to stop. The siren. His love.

The dark night provides little light through his eyelids, and his lungs burn. Weeks ago he was willing to let this happen. How such little things can change one’s entire world.

Something touches his arm, and the bindings release him. Eyes flying open, purple and gold holds his vision. Her claws making quick work of the rope, but having no effect against the chain that still drags him deeper.

Her tail cuts through the water, facing him with large rings of gold. The panic pants her periwinkle skin, and she wraps her arms around him. Flipping her tail and raising them only an inch from his descend.

She has already watched a love die to the sea. His hands still her, cupping her cheeks as his lips part. Bubbles rising between them as her fear does too.

His lips whisper in the sea, telling her to let go. To not watch this. To not struggle against the sea claiming another soul.

The narrow of her brow could have cut his hand. Teeth bared, she tightens her arms around him, and beats her tail. Gold and purple flashing among the burning in his lungs. The iron in the ball trying to drag him to a bed of sand and rock tugs relentlessly at his leg. As if stretching him apart. She fights it, the darkness somehow thinning as they struggle through the water.

His limbs become empty, waving without purpose as darkness peeks at the edges of his vision. The ocean waits, touching his lips. Patiently waiting for when they can claim him. Her cool skin awakes his, but only for moments as she shifts and flicks her tail.

_Have you ever found love?_

_Oh brother, I understand now._

Death is not kind, but it allows him comfort within the siren’s arms.

“ _Mon chéri_ ,” comes her strained, singing voice.

The stars sparkle, and his lips part. Inhaling with his soul. A sudden wave dips them back under, but her touch is not lost to his skin. Once again breaking the surface, Hanzo gasps. The siren giving him the air, before dragging through the water. Her powerful tail holding them both as they cut through the water. To where, Hanzo simply can’t focus on besides holding his breath and getting more. Amélie holds him, brow tighten in concentration and fangs bared in denying the sea.

His skin is rubbed away at the shackle around his ankle. The iron ball jerking his body as the siren pulls them both through the ocean. Its only when the palest streaks of light touch the sky does the iron sink into sand. Another push from Amélie, and it lifts onto the shoreline.

They both gasp as the sand touches their skin. Hanzo struggles, pulling himself half way out of the water before collapsing. The sky resting above his eyes. The siren swishes her tail in the shallows, before dragging herself to his side. The shaking movements in her body betraying her exhaustion yet she comes to his side. Barely leaning on her arm to look at his eyes, her long dark hair is free from its ponytail. Draping down her side and tickling his arm.

“Hanzo,” her finger trails against his hairline, brushing back the dark locks from his eyes. Panting with her gold eyes tight and searching.

Breathlessly, his hand moves. His fingers touching her cheek.

“Amélie…”

That as her only reassurance, she lowers herself against his chest. Head resting right over his heart as her hair sweeps across his body. Her cool skin touches his heart as he breathes, her scales brushing against his hip.

They lie still. The siren out of the sea and resting on the pirate. Both breathing and letting their weary bones recover. It takes until the sun is at the edge of the horizon for him to feel the gold ring. In his pocket, leaving an impression from the siren’s pressing tail.

Breathing heavily, he sits up. Gently settling Amélie against the sand with quiet reassurance. His lips warming her cheek as he brushes back the dark curtain of hair from her eyes. His fingertips brushing her neck, murmuring a few soft words. 

Her cold eyes watch him find a rock in the shallows, using it to sever the chain. Returning to her still side, his arms take her. Holding her skin and scales without faltering. She sighs, breathing against his collarbone as he walks from the open beach. They go to the small cave carved into the rock wall where she brought him after releasing him from the first cavern. The stone is slick with water and shadowy from the sun. She’ll stay alive here.

Her tail trembles as they arrive. The effort and strength to carry him and the iron ball across such a distance is unimaginable. It’s a wonder she’s even awake. His lips touch the corner of her eyelid, before gently lowering her to the stone floor. The coolness doesn’t affect her skin. Her eyelids flutter while watching Hanzo kneel beside her, pulling the gold ring from his pocket.

“Amélie, stay awake. For one more moment.” He pleads, knowing this is selfish, but he must.

She blinks slowly, letting him lie next to her and press close. Her hair a soft blanket as his fingers trace down her left arm. Taking her hand, the gold ring sparkles for a moment. Both their gazes holding it, before she gives a nearly unnoticeable nod.

The pirate slips the ring on her finger. Her blue fist curling around it as he shifts her closer. The purple and gold tail flicks for a moment to touch his legs as both fall asleep in the coolness of the rock wall.


End file.
